Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I have quickly realized that if the students are not being assessed, they find no reason to be doing the work. Most assessment done in my classes to this point have been informal. I am trying to find ways to get one on one time with the students. This enables me to see multiple things. The first is what problems individual students are having. If there is a particular part or idea of a concept that a student isn't grasping I can than give them some individualized time to pin point the problem and help correct it. While this is going on, the rest of the class will be working diligently on the assignment at hand. The other thing this allows me to see is if there is one particular problem that the whole class may be suffering from. If I find a problem like that, I can grasp the classes attention and clarify the misconception. It will also enable me to make corrections to my lesson plan so that, in the future, the misconception will never take root in the first place.
Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am using a straight points based system. Quizzes will be worth 20, homeworks will be worth 10, and tests will be worth 100. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I do not know how many total points there are to be had for the class. The reason I don't know that is because I will be following the flow of the class. When I feel that they are ready for the quiz, I can give it to them. If time runs short though, I will be forced to give them a quiz and move on to the next topic. The number of assignments given for each type of assignment will define their importance, as opposed to the weighted system which will define the importance of the assignments as a whole. I do not like this because the total points possible for one particular type of assignment may not end up reflecting it's true worth when the grade is calculated. For example, If I assigned one homework assignment all year and homeworks were worth 50% of the student's grade, it would suddenly become the most important assignment of the semester. Through the use of a straight points based system, I can personally define how much each type of assignment will eventually count towards their final grade by assigning more or less of that particular type of assignment. I intend to assign a decent amount of homework. Ideally, in my minds eye, the most points will be achieved through tests followed by homework and the least number of points coming through quizzes. If they do their homework, good quiz grades will follow so, essentially, quiz grades should not need to be worth more overall points then homeworks. Good homeworks lead to good quizzes which leads to good tests, which will lead to a good grade.
Assessment and Grading
Describe how you plan to assess student learning and why you're taking this approach.
I have quickly realized that if the students are not being assessed, they find no reason to be doing the work. Most assessment done in my classes to this point have been informal. I am trying to find ways to get one on one time with the students. This enables me to see multiple things. The first is what problems individual students are having. If there is a particular part or idea of a concept that a student isn't grasping I can than give them some individualized time to pin point the problem and help correct it. While this is going on, the rest of the class will be working diligently on the assignment at hand. The other thing this allows me to see is if there is one particular problem that the whole class may be suffering from. If I find a problem like that, I can grasp the classes attention and clarify the misconception. It will also enable me to make corrections to my lesson plan so that, in the future, the misconception will never take root in the first place.Describe how you're choosing to grade your students' performance and why.
I am using a straight points based system. Quizzes will be worth 20, homeworks will be worth 10, and tests will be worth 100. There are several reasons for this. The first is that I do not know how many total points there are to be had for the class. The reason I don't know that is because I will be following the flow of the class. When I feel that they are ready for the quiz, I can give it to them. If time runs short though, I will be forced to give them a quiz and move on to the next topic. The number of assignments given for each type of assignment will define their importance, as opposed to the weighted system which will define the importance of the assignments as a whole. I do not like this because the total points possible for one particular type of assignment may not end up reflecting it's true worth when the grade is calculated. For example, If I assigned one homework assignment all year and homeworks were worth 50% of the student's grade, it would suddenly become the most important assignment of the semester. Through the use of a straight points based system, I can personally define how much each type of assignment will eventually count towards their final grade by assigning more or less of that particular type of assignment. I intend to assign a decent amount of homework. Ideally, in my minds eye, the most points will be achieved through tests followed by homework and the least number of points coming through quizzes. If they do their homework, good quiz grades will follow so, essentially, quiz grades should not need to be worth more overall points then homeworks. Good homeworks lead to good quizzes which leads to good tests, which will lead to a good grade.